The weekend from which I am still recovering!

This weekend was fast and furious, to say the least, but it was one of the most fun weekends that I have had in quite some time!

Saturday morning I was up, bright and early, for my first run since my marathon on December 14. Six weeks of no running. Needless to say, I was excited, but I also went in with the mindset that it would be an information-gathering run – more of a state-of-my-recovery kind of assessment, if you will.

This was the first run with my new watch and I absolutely LOVED the change. I had created my workout and synced to the watch ahead of time, complete with my targeted heart rate zones. I planned a 5 min walking warm-up followed by 3 repeats of 5 min running in heart rate zone 3 (130-148), then 5 min walking in zone 2 (112-129) with a 5 min cool down. Now, I realize these zones aren’t completely accurate for me, since I am unable to figure my threshold at this point, but I think they will work until I am able to perform all the diagnostic tests. My first running interval was 10:21/average per mile. The second was at 10:54 and the third at 11:24. Since my watch only showed my heart rate and the countdown to the next interval, I had NO idea of my pace (which was a VERY good thing). I knew on the 3rd interval that I had slowed considerably, and as a result I kept trying to speed ahead but my watch wouldn’t let me! Believe me when I say that I wanted that thing to quit beeping at me, so I did as I was told! LOL!! Overall, it was a very good run, except the crankiness in my right ITB on the 3rd interval. I am not all that surprised or all that concerned, as my myofascia release has been focused on my left (gimpy) side. I will be going this week for a full body release so hopefully we can take care of some of the right side issues. Bottom line, though, is that the run gave me hope that I CAN come back and I WILL come back strong!

The old train depot was a beautiful sight on frosty Saturday morning!The walking intervals, coupled with using a watch instead of my phone, gave me opportunity to snap some lovely pics!

After the run, I dashed home to stretch, foam roll and shower in an attempt to make it to Logan’s 9 am soccer game on time. I’ll just kill the suspense and tell you that I did NOT make it to the game on time. I made it to the soccer game just before half-time. The morning was BEAUTIFUL! Sun was shining, light breeze and temps warmed quickly so that I didn’t even need a jacket! Logan even played right midfield as opposed to his usual defensive position, barely missing heading the ball in on a cross in the second half. A fun twist was our 2-student spirit section. They brought their drums and played the entire game. All would have been complete, if only we had brought our vuvuzelas! The boys ended their tournament on a win and have gone to 3-2-3 on the season, which is about 3 wins and 2 ties better than last season already!

A long-time friend of mine owns an online newspaper in town, the North Texas E-News. He is a phenomenal photographer (well, it helps to have a high-dollar camera) and he is so supportive of ALL the surrounding schools. I can’t tell you how many amazing pictures he took of Taylor over the years. Now that we have home soccer games, he is braving the elements to capture those moments as well!

After the soccer game, I rushed home to pack. Alli’s team was playing in a tournament at the Dallas Convention Center and I had made a last-minute decision to spend the night. I scurried around the house like a mad person packing, rushed to catch the last half of Alli’s basketball game, and we were off to downtown Dallas!

As a refresher, Alli is setter on Madfrog 10s National volleyball team. Even though the 10s age group is growing in USA Volleyball, our girls will end up playing in the 12s division in almost all of our tournaments, and it was no different this weekend. However, our girls have been well-trained and our coaching is impeccable. They rolled through pool play, with a 6-0 set count to clinch 1st place in our pool and end the day. Sunday morning we were back, bright and early, at 7:15. We easily won our first three matches of the day to secure our spot in the finals.

I knew that the team in the finals would be difficult to beat. Our girls don’t take into account the age of the opponent. Or their size. Or how well they can serve. Collectively, as a team, they never seem to get rattled. Of course, there are times when our serving is off. There are times when our serve receive is off. There are times when the pistons aren’t all firing. But they never look defeated. The team they played was very good, but our girls kept playing their game. They ended up losing the first game 25-22, but still battled in the second set. The teams traded points (point runs, to be more accurate), until the opposing team was able to clinch a 25-23 victory. The coach of the other team even came over to congratulate our girls on the way they played and added that he hoped to never face them again. Even so, the girls were devastated! And I giggled a little bit inside because they were sad about 2nd place….in a 12s tournament!! There were several moments of tears. While all of us parents are in awe of their accomplishment, they truly believed they could win and believed that they should have won (and they were right!). I LOVE that attitude!

2nd place overall, 12s DivisionAmerican Volleyball Challenge

Taylor’s team was also playing in this tournament, so I was able to watch her team play when Alli was off. She is such a good coach and I am very proud of her! She is the type of coach that finds something to say about every single play. That kind of coaching is what develops great athletes. I have no doubt that she will enjoy many successes in her volleyball coaching career!

Now for the non-sport activities!

Taylor stayed in the hotel with us Saturday evening. On our way to the hotel after our afternoon of volleyball, we stopped at Klyde Warren Park in downtown Dallas (to eat from the food trucks – don’t judge!). This is a beautiful space that was built on top of a freeway.

The REAL reason I wanted to eat at the food trucks was because I saw the Trailercakes truck. How I have managed to live this long without having one of their cupcakes still boggles my mind. Sadly, they only had coconut left, and we all know I have sensory issues with food – shredded coconut included, so I had to pass. We finally decided to place our order at Butcher’s Son. (OK, YES, the name grossed me out, as I couldn’t shake the vision of all the meat chopping going on in there, but the girls’ votes over-rode me.) I ordered chicken quesadilla. Safe, right? WRONG. THIS is what was inside:

CHICKEN SAUSAGE!!!! I thought the meat poking out the side looked funny. Then I thought the meat tasted funny and had weird/wrong texture. Then I looked at the meat. In case you don’t know, I have minor issues with meats that have been ground up and shoved into some sort of casing. Yes….me. I know it’s difficult to fathom, but go ahead and fathom it.

When we made it back to hotel, I stretched and rolled my ITB out with my trusty, portable friend, The Stick. (And then I read my Kindle 🙂

By the time Alli and I started making our way home Sunday afternoon, it was 3:30. We were both starved and exhausted. But, I had promised her Buffalo Wild Wings, so BWW it was. Normally, we wouldn’t order appetizers and our meal, but, hey, her team had just ended up in 2nd place and she worked hard! So we did order appetizers and when she had finished eating this happened:

She actually laid down in the booth while I finished eating. Winning wears you out. Literally.

I am still dragging this morning, but she woke up refreshed and ready to conquer the week. Oh, and she expressed the need for a medal hanger – like mine that I hang my running medals on, except volleyball. Apparently she is planning on earning many more medals!

Great job on the run…and I like how you went by heart targets. Do you often train like that, or is that because of coming back from the ITB issues? Someone on Twitter mentioned about heart rate based training and I looked into it a bit, but for some reason it didn’t stick, interest wise.

Ok, as far as heart rate training, it is something that I have wanted to try for a LONG time. Even though I am not a “fast” runner by most standards, I do run most of my runs too fast (for me). I believe this is part of the reason I have struggled with injury. The heart rate was great because I can set it for lower zones on my long runs, which should keep me from pushing too hard. And on short, tempo runs, I can up the zone and push myself. I found it VERY helpful during my run on Saturday, as in the end, the heart rate held me back. I can’t wait to see where this takes me!